World Cup tops Google search lists

The World Cup in Brazil, Ebola and the iPhone 6 where the biggest trends and news stories UK users searched for on Google in 2014.

The search engine giant has revealed the things we’ve been using Google to find out, and it includes the answer to the question “who is Banksy?”, as well as “what is ALS?”.

The deaths of Peaches Geldof, Robin Williams and Rik Mayall also featured in the top 10 trending searches list, alongside mobile game Flappy Bird, the Grand National and actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Google is the world’s most popular search engine, with more than two trillion searches registered in 2013.

Ebola was the top news story of the year, followed by ALS – inspired by the ice bucket challenge that swept the internet promoting awareness of the disease – and Malaysia Airlines, which lost two passenger planes in separate incidents during 2014.

Luis Suarez’s bite on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup was fourth, with Scottish Independence fifth. Cliff Richard, the celebrity photo hack and Oscar Pistorius were also in the top 10.

Google’s Stephen Rosenthal said of the results: “Google’s Year in Search gives us the best snapshot of what moved, inspired, shocked and intrigued us in 2014.

“With so many of us now having multiple computers, phones and tablets immediately to hand, these results are the most accurate and comprehensive collection of what the UK’s been talking about this year.”

Google is commonly used to directly answer questions, and the most common this year was “who is Banksy?” – referencing the anonymous street artist. This was followed by “who is Frenchy?” – the Celebrity Big Brother star, with rapper Dappy, Palestinian group Hamas and ISIS also appearing on the list.

Googlers in 2014 were also asking for tips on learning new skills, with the most popular being “how to draw”, followed by “how to kiss” and “how to crochet”.

Finding out how to meditate, knit, twerk and squat were also among the most popular things Google users wanted to know.

While there were a host of celebrity deaths in 2014, the loss of Peaches Geldof was the most searched for, followed by Robin Williams and Rik Mayall.

The all-conquering Beyonce topped the most searched female celebrity list, beating the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Katy Perry to the number one spot.

Pop star Ariana Grande topped the rising female celebrity list, with British vlogger Zoella also making it into the top five.

Ed Sheeran tops the male celebrity list with fellow singer Pharrell sitting at the top of the rising list. Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch was second.

In sport, there was something of a surprise as Hull City were the fourth most searched for Premier League team, ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.